A blog about this crazy, wonderful, rollcoaster life and how life has changed since becoming a Mama.

Friday, January 27, 2017

Womans' March on Washington

So, I have been writing in this space for almost eight years. I never expected to keep it up this long, but I absolutely love that I have a "journal" I can go back and read about the kids and our life. That's what this space is to me, a place to preserve our memories. With that being said, I don't tend to write about political stuff, or world news, or anything like that, I focus on our family. But sometimes what's going on in the outside world becomes a little too big, and it becomes a very real and tangible part of our little bubble. So what I'm going to write about in this post is political, but it is something that I am incredibly proud of and something that was truly a life changing moment for me, so I think it deserves to be documented here.

If you want to skip this post, I understand. I promise we will soon be back to our regular scheduled programing of kids, kids and more kids!

OK, that was a long intro. Unless you've been living under a rock, you know that about three months ago Donald Trump was elected the 45th president of the United States. To say I was horrified and devastated would be an understatement. I am one of the millions who was appalled by this mans treatment of woman, minorities, people with disabilities, people who disagreed with him.... the list goes on and on. I felt his campaign was ran and won on a platform of hatred, fear-mongering, and bigotry, and my heart hurt when I realized how many people supported these ideologies.

So, I cried. A lot. Then I got angry. And then I realized I had to get involved. I joined groups, started calling my senators and representatives, went to rallies, and started educating myself on the issues I really cared about. And when the movement started to March on Washington DC the day after his inauguration, I knew it was something I wanted to be a part of. So last Friday myself and three friends boarded a plane and flew across the country to join millions of others who wanted their voices to be heard.

(A plane full of woman and men ready to resist!)

We arrived in DC in the early evening and where met by our hosts, friends of my friends from college. They were generous enough to let us stay in a condo they owned in the heart of DC. It was amazing, we were minutes away from the Capital building. After we got settled Friday night we walked around and took in some sights (It was a little crazy because the streets were completely blocked off) and then had a delicious dinner, before heading off to bed to prepare for our big day the next day.

And then Saturday. Well, if you watch the news you know there were quite a few of us there. People flew in and drove in from all over the country. And when I say there was a few of us.... I mean there was about 1.2 million (which is the latest number I have heard from the news!).

There truly are not even words to describe it. It was amazing, it was inspiring, it was truly beautiful.

To see literally millions of people all gathered together in solidarity, fighting for love and respect for all humans, was humbling. It was loud and energetic, but almost impossibly peaceful. There was not a single arrest from the march in DC, not a single act of violence.

Between the rally and the march we were out for a good seven or eight hours, and by the end we were exhausted and elated.

We ended at a field in front of the white house, which was pretty cool. (The march had soon many people that people ended up walking a lot of different routes through the city, I believe other groups ended up directly in front of the White House!) It mad me sad to know it was no longer occupied by a man I though was so eloquent and respectable (Hey Obama!), but instead by a man who I cannot and will not respect. But I also know our message was being heard.

Like I said, my words don't feel adequate, so I'll leave you with some more pictures.

After our long and successful day we headed out to a local joint to celebrate and unwind. Luckily we weren't leaving until Monday, so we also had Sunday to explore the city a bit. I knew the one place I wanted to go was the Holocaust Museum, so after briefly checking out the art institute and seeing the constitution that's where we spent the rest of the day.

The Holocaust Museum was...... devastating. I cried pretty much the whole way through. But I also think it was so important, especially with how divide our country is right now. It was terrifying to see how Hitler rose to power, and to be honest there were so many things that were similar if not identical to the current leader, it scared me.

The pictures broke my heart. Families. Babies. Husbands and wives and children. Wiped off this earth.

And I"m going to end this post with this picture of a quote from MLK, from the museum. Because I think it says it all.